Broadcast since 1 May 1958 as China Central Television (CCTV), CMG has a total of 49 television channels as of February 2021, consisting of 26 free channels, 17 pay channels and 6 foreign channels,[1] making CMG the world's largest number of TV channels operated by a single television network. All CMG channels are broadcasting around the world through satellite, cable and on Internet television. Those channels are listed below in sequence of launch day.
The first TV channel of People's Republic of China, renamed to China Central Television on 1 May 1978, defined as CCTV-1 during launching of CCTV-2, and renamed to CCTV General when launch of CCTV-13
The first color TV channel of People's Republic of China, at the earlier test launch era, the programmes are related to education, later General television for economical, renamed to CCTV Economical, Life and Service on 3 July 2000, renamed to CCTV Economical on 20 May 2003, and renamed to CCTV Finance on 24 August 2009
艺启欢笑 艺起发光(Arts open the mirths, arts start lighting)
CCTV Opera and Music
Renamed to CCTV Literature and Art on 30 November 1995, renamed to CCTV Opera and Music on 15 January 1996 and renamed to CCTV Variety on 18 December 2000
Was general television for culture, renamed to CCTV International on 1 November 1994, and renamed to CCTV Chinese International in 2006. Was having English and Cantonese programmes before 2006, channel signal splitted to 3 edition (Asian, European and American) in 2006, bilingual captions available since 2009 for dramas.
All channels below are using Mandarin Chinese. The previous 13 channels are owned by Central Digital Television Media Co., Ltd., their HD signals were launched on 23 September 2019, and their SD signals were shutted down in 2020. The last 3 channels are owned by CND Films.
None of channels below are available for subscribers within Mainland China.
Name
Language
Format
Launch date
Note
Daifu
Standard Chinese and Japanese
SD: PAL 576i 16:9 (extruded)
HD: 1080i
27 May 1998 (SD)
1 June 2014 (HD)
Japanese edition of CCTV-4, available in Sky PerfecTV!
CCTV Entertainment
Standard Chinese
SD: PAL 576i 16:9
1 October 2004
Overseas edition of CCTV-3
CCTV Chinese Opera
Overseas edition of CCTV-11
CCTV-1 Hong Kong & Macau Edition
Standard Chinese and Cantonese
SD: PAL 576i 16:9 (pure)
HD: 1080i
1 March 2011 (SD)
29 May 2017 (HD)
For both: Due to copyright and trademark concerns, all advertisements and some programmes of original CCTV-1 are censored, and replaced by local, mainly Cantonese-speaking, advertisements and other news programmes.
Hong Kong Edition: Was transmitted by ATV before 1 April 2015, later de facto only available for some pay channel networks, such as now TV 541, until 23 May 2017 where RTHK took over the channel spectrum as RTHK33. Macau Edition: Transmitted by TDM, was using original CCTV-1 spectrum during 20 December 2016 through 29 May 2017.
CCTV High Definition Test - The first HDTV channel in the Great China area, as well as the world's first Chinese-speaking HDTV channel, launched on 1 October 1999, closed date 2013
plus an additional 10+ advanced integration satellite providers if possible
International broadcasts
It is possible to receive channels CCTV-4 (Mandarin channel targeting an overseas Chinese audience), CGTN (English channel targeting an Foreigner audience), CGTN Spanish (in Spanish) and CGTN French (in French) outside China by using a Digital Video Broadcast signal (plus additional broadcast support together with Dolby Stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital Advanced Sound Quality Definition and Improvement System Support, technologized and developed by Dolby Laboratories, Datasat, and the SDDS for digital audio system supportments). CCTV has just recently switched from analog to DVB primarily due to better signal quality and the ability to charge for reception (about US$10 per year subscription). The overseas channels are widely available across many cable and satellite providers.
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is a set of international open standards for digital television. DVB standards are maintained by the DVB Project, an international industry consortium, and are published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previous analog-based cable by the mid 2010s. During the late 2000s, broadcast television converted to the digital HDTV standard, which was incompatible with existing analog cable systems.
Bell Satellite TV is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service across Canada. It launched on September 10, 1997. As of April 2017, Bell Satellite TV provides over 700 channels to over 1 million subscribers. Its major competitors include satellite service Shaw Direct, as well as various cable and communications companies across Canada.
High-definition television (HDTV) in the United States was introduced in 1998 and has since become increasingly popular and dominant in the television market. Hundreds of HD channels are available in millions of homes and businesses both terrestrially and via subscription services such as satellite, cable and IPTV. HDTV has quickly become the standard, with about 85% of all TVs used being HD as of 2018. In the US, the 720p and 1080i formats are used for linear channels, while 1080p is available on a limited basis, mainly for pay-per-view and video on demand content. Some networks have also began transmitting content at 1080p via ATSC 3.0 multiplex channels, with CBS and NBC affiliates being the main stations that transmit at 1080p.
Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first regular television service in the world, named Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow.
CCTV-1 is the primary channel of CCTV, the national flagship terrestrial television network of the People's Republic of China. It broadcasts a range of programs from CCTV Headquarters at East 3rd Ring Road in Beijing and is available to both cable and terrestrial television viewers. The terrestrial signal of CCTV-1 is free-to-air across China. However, due to copyright restrictions, the satellite signal of CCTV-1 is encrypted, and smartcards are necessary for decryption.
BBC HD was a high-definition television channel owned by the BBC. The channel was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 25 March 2013. It broadcast only during the afternoon and evening and only broadcast material shot in high definition, either in a simulcast with another channel or by inserting a repeat of an HD programme.
Virgin TV is a digital pay cable television service in the United Kingdom, owned by Liberty Global (50%) and Telefónica (50%) after the merger its UK businesses to form Virgin Media O2. Its origins date from NTL and Telewest, formerly two of the UK's largest cable operators, which merged on 6 March 2006. All NTL:Telewest services were rebranded as Virgin Media in February 2007. Since the acquisition of Smallworld Cable in 2014, Virgin is the sole national cable TV provider in Great Britain. Currently about 51% of UK households have access to Virgin's network, which is independent from BT's Openreach network.
There are four major forms of digital television (DTV) broadcast in the United Kingdom: a direct-to-home satellite service from the Astra 28.2°E satellites provided by Sky UK, a cable television service provided by Virgin Media ; a free-to-air satellite service called Freesat; and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition, an IPTV system known as BT TV is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country. 77% of the United Kingdom has access to HDTV via terrestrial digital television. Satellite is the only source of HDTV broadcast available for the remaining 23%.
KT SkyLife is a satellite broadcasting provider in South Korea. It is a subsidiary of KT Corporation.
Television in France was introduced in 1931, when the first experimental broadcasts began. Colour television was introduced in October 1967 on La Deuxième Chaîne.
The Netherlands now has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T), Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition IPTV services are available. At the end of the first quarter of 2013 almost 84% of the households in the Netherlands had some form of digital television.
Digital television in the United States is available via digital terrestrial television (DTT), digital cable, satellite television, and IPTV providers.
The television industry in China includes high-tech program production, transmission and coverage. China Central Television is China's largest state-run national television broadcaster. By 1987, two-thirds of people in China had access to television. As of August 22, 2023, over 3,300 local, regional, and national TV channels are available in the country.
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it refers to the generation following standard-definition television (SDTV). It is the standard video format used in most broadcasts: terrestrial broadcast television, cable television, satellite television.
CCTV-5+ (Chinese: 中国中央电视台体育赛事频道), formerly CCTV-HD, is China Central Television's channel designated to broadcast top international sporting events in high-definition. It was tested in Beijing on 24 December 2007, and launched officially on 1 May 2008 under CCTV-HD. CCTV-HD was created specifically for the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics.
GS Group is the largest Russian developer and producer of set-top boxes for television. Since 1991 company has been conducting systematic research and development work and producing radio electronic equipment. Company products and technology concepts are used in satellite broadcasting projects NTV-PLUS, Tricolor TV, Platform HD etc. Total number of TV subscribers using set-top boxes produced by the Corporation in Russian Federation exceeds 7 million. In 2007 General Satellite became the main investor of the integral innovation project: "Technopolis GS: scientific and technological development territory", which is implemented in Gusev town, Kaliningrad Region. It was a major contractor for NTV-PLUS company in 90s in Russia.
Ultra-high-definition television today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories and later defined and approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
CGTN Documentary is a state-run English-language documentary channel operated by the China Global Television Network (CGTN) group, owned by Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). It broadcasts documentaries in the English language, and is China's first state-level English-language documentary channel to broadcast globally.
Channel names in Italic indicates planned channels
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